2015 News

WeatherTech Racing Looking for Repeat of Past at Lime Rock

TAVARES, Fla. (July 21, 2015) - Cooper MacNeil and Leh Keen are ready to go back to Lime Rock Park for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Northeast Grand Prix to run July 24-25.

WeatherTech Racing drivers MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.) and Keen (Charleston, S.C.) last raced at the 1.5-mile, nine-turn Lime Rock circuit in 2012, as teammates, where they managed to win the GTC Class from the pole. The duo are currently second in the GTD points standings just 10 out of the lead. The familiar Lime Rock track is a welcome circuit to the WeatherTech pair.

"The last time I raced at this track with Leh was back in 2012 and we won," MacNeil said. "My favorite part of Lime Rock Park is the final corner, the downhill. It's a high speed, high G-load corner that requires precise placement of the car. It's a tricky turn that yields a high consequence if you get it wrong, that always adds some excitement. Another part of the track I love is the general location of the facility. The rolling lush green hills around Lime Rock are gorgeous and make for a pleasant commute to the track. We hope to keep that streak going this year. We are currently second in the GTD points championship and it will take podium finishes every race to win the title, so we need to be prepared. This weekend it will only be GTD and LMPC racing, which will be interesting, I'm excited to get back to Lime Rock!"

Keen is ready to get back to a track where he has seen success.

This will be the first time I am back at Lime Rock with Cooper in the WeatherTech Porsche since 2012 when we won there from the pole," Keen said. "It was really a great weekend. So we will just try to recreate our 2012 win! The LMPC cars always seem to find themselves in the grass or worse. With such a tight track there will be a lot of action. Although it will be a little more quiet than usual without the other classes, it's still going to be crazy entertaining for the fans. We will just have to watch our mirrors like always. Lime Rock has been a pretty successful track for me. I helped clinch a championship in 2013 there in the Rolex Series with a second place. It's tight, busy and hot in the summer. We won't have much time to rest on the straights. But as always the Alex Job Racing crew will have the WeatherTech Porsche raring to go!"

Alex Job, team owner, knows that Lime Rock can be tricky.

"It is the shortest circuit we race by almost a mile," Job said. "We will be doing around 60-second lap times with the GTD cars. Such a quick lap time can bring challenges with strategy for the race. One little mishap like a pit lane speeding violation and you will be out of the race. Cooper and Leh race smart and we have lots of notes on how to run Lime Rock.

The TUDOR Championship Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park will be broadcast live on IMSA.com July 25 starting at 3 p.m. The television broadcast will air on Fox Sports 1 starting at 5 p.m. on July 26. Qualifying on Friday can be viewed at IMSA.com at 5:15 p.m. ET.

For more information on WeatherTech Racing, including race recaps, photos and team gear, please visit the official team site at www.WeatherTechRacing.com

The TUDOR United SportsCar Championship GTD (GT Daytona) Class is made up of some the world's most sophisticated cars, including the Porsche 911 GT America, Ferrari 458, Aston Martin, BMW Z4, Viper SRT and Audi R8. All GTD Class cars run on the spec Continental tire.